Steve and Danny drove up his driveway around lunchtime and waved back at Eric as he sat on his knees in the front yard pulling weeds and dragging a black garbage bag behind him for the debris.

They got out of the Camaro and Steve yelled over at him. "Hey, is this part of your chores for the window?"

Eric stood up and made his way over to them. "No, I like pulling weeds, so I thought I would just do it for the heck of it," he smiled at his clever answer.

Steve put an arm around his neck and put him in a headlock. "I told you Danny, he's a smart-aleck."

They all laughed as Eric tried to get out of the grip while Steve walked toward his house, holding him in place. "C'mon smarty boy, try and get out of this one."

Danny came around the front of them. "This is how you get out." He put a hand on Eric's back, pushing him down and then took ahold of his left ankle, "Bend over and move your foot behind his leg like this." Eric followed the guided movement. "And then just slip your head out once his arm is pushed back." He let go of him and let him try.

"C'mon tough guy," Steve tormented. "Let's see that move."

Eric did as he was instructed and pulled his head out, jumping back away from him laughing and pointing. "I did it! I did it! You are so weak!"

Steve went to lunge for him when Danny grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back, kicking his leg out from under him and bringing him to his knees. "Run Eric!"

They all three were laughing as Steve reached over his shoulder and grabbed Danny by the neck, trying to flip him over his shoulder. Eric jumped in on the game and put Steve in a headlock this time.

"You're under arrest!" he shouted as they laughed over their playful antics.

Jenny came out of the house and saw what was happening and came running across the yard. She stopped before them jumping up and down excitedly. "I want to play too!"

"Get Danny, Jenny!" Steve urged her. "Hurry! Get him off of me."

She squealed with laughter and pulled on the back of his shirt. He let go of Steve and fell back on the ground as if she had made it happen.

"Aww, you beat me. You're too strong."

She pulled on Eric next until Steve stood up putting an arm around Eric's waist and then bent over, scooping up Jenny the same way with the other arm. He held the two of them easily off the ground, gently shaking them as they screamed with laughter.

He finally set them down as Jenny grabbed on around his thigh. "Swing me around like an airplane!" she asked excitedly.

He put a hand on her head, "I better not honey."

She looked up at him, begging with her eyes. "Just once?"

He looked over at Danny who motioned with his head for him to indulge the kid.

"Ok," he caved. "How do I do that?"

She jumped back and held her hands up to him. "Take my hands and spin me around."

His expression became worried, having never done it before. "That's dangerous."

"Only if you let go," Danny laughed.

He playfully growled and took ahold of her wrists. "What now?"

"Just start spinning Einstein" Danny said. "It's the law of gravity."

Eric laughed, "Just start going and she'll lift off the ground. My Dad used to do it all the time."

Steve looked around him to make sure the space was clear and did as he was told; sure enough she came off the ground and was almost parallel with it as he spun her around. He looked at her sweet little face as her blond hair flew behind her and she smiled happily.

"Go faster Daddy," she yelled.

All at once her smile faded and she began to squirm.

"Let me go!" she cried.

He quickly stopped, setting her down as she pulled her hands away and stared at the ground. The playful moment quickly took a turn as tears began to fall from her eyes.

Steve went to kneel down, relieved when Eric beat him to it. He put his arms around his little sister and hugged her. "Its ok Jenny. Don't feel sad."

Danny stared down at them, thinking about his own daughter, Gracie. He couldn't imagine what would be going through the mind of a child to have the safety and security of your parents there one second and then gone forever the next. It tore at his heart and he saw the same expression from his partner as he glanced over at him, he too watched the unfortunate display between the siblings.

They all looked up as Anna appeared. "What happened?"

Steve ran his hand over his hair, and for the first time he was actually pleased that she was there. He could be the fun guy but when it came to nurturing a five-year-old girl, he had no clue what to do or say. "We were playing…" he trailed off, forgoing the details and just said the obvious. "She misses her Dad."

Anna knelt down next to Eric, rubbing Jenny's back. "Come here sweetheart." She took her from Eric, wiping away her tears.

"I want my daddy," she whimpered.

"I know you do. I wish I could bring him here. I miss him too. But if you close your eyes and think about him, you'll see him."

Jenny closed her eyes tightly as Anna took her hand.

"Can you see him?"

A tiny smile emerged on her face as she slowly nodded. "He's eating breakfast."

"We had breakfast everyday together," Eric said somberly, tears forming in his eyes as well.

"See," Anna said. "He's always right there."

Jenny looked up with fresh tears welling in her eyes. "I can't see his face."

Anna stood up with her in her arms, "Let's go look at some pictures and you can watch that video of when you went to Disneyland, ok?"

She nodded in agreement wiping her own face and laying her head on Anna's shoulder.

Steve watched the display between the two of them, seeing the love that Anna had fought so hard to convince him of the night before. She never looked at him to revel in the moment that could have proved her point; instead she focused on the more important issue other than herself.

She put a hand on Eric's back, "Do you want to watch too?"

He nodded and walked closely beside her toward the house.

"Geez," Danny sighed, "poor kids."

They glanced back at each other sheepishly and then turned away again as if trying to hide those emotions that were tearing away at each of them.

"They're good kids," Steve replied. "It's going to be hard for a while."

"A while?" Danny questioned his comment. "It's been what, fifteen years for you? It's still hard on you."

Steve couldn't argue with that, so he didn't.

"At least they have Anna." Danny followed him to his front door. "She doesn't seem like the terror that you make her out to be."

"She has her good moments," he replied, going in the house.

"I'm sure she says the same thing about you."

"I don't care what she says about me." He went in the kitchen and opened the fridge pulling out a block of cheese and some sliced turkey.

"Bullshit," Danny chuckled, reaching up in the cupboard and taking out a loaf of bread and a bag of chips, setting the bread down in front of Steve and opening the chips. "I think you do care."

Steve sighed heavily, "Alright, enlighten me please on why you think I care if Hollywood over there likes me or not."

Danny went around him in the fridge for a pop. "I think you want to like her, and it drives you crazy that she doesn't like you."

Steve slapped some sliced turkey on a piece of bread and busted out laughing. "I'm sure there are lots of people in this word that don't like me and it doesn't keep me up at nights, why should this one?"

Danny leaned against the counter and cracked open the pop, "Because you admire what she's doing. Don't deny it, and the fact that someone you admire doesn't like you…" he grinned knowing he had it nailed, "that's what drives you crazy."

"You know what drives me crazy?" he picked up the sandwich and took a bite, taking the pop out of his hands, "You!" He stuck the sandwich back in his mouth and with the free hand grabbed the bag of chips and went to the table.

"What?" Danny whined. "You're not going to make your guest a sandwich?"

"You're not a guest. And hurry up, we have to get outta here pretty quick."

He began to assemble a turkey sandwich, "So, am I right or am I right?"

Steve took another bite of his sandwich and spoke with his mouth full as he read over a text from Chin. "You're absolutely right, Daniel," he amused him and then stood up. "Times up. Chin and Kono got the lay down on that guy on the surveillance camera. Back to work." He took a drink of the pop and watched as Danny came over and started putting chips on the sandwich. "What are you doing?" he asked, seemingly appalled over it.

"I saw Gracie do it the other day. It's actually pretty good, you should try it."

"No thanks. I'm not twelve."

"It's the same thing as shoving a sausage inside a bun and filling it with condiments, and I see you eating Puka Dogs."

They went toward the front door. "A Puka Dog is work of art." He held the door open as they went out and laughed as the chips crumbled out the back as he took a bite. "That's a mess."

"Mmm," Danny moaned. "A mess of heaven."

All he could do was shake his head as he closed the door behind them. He followed Danny to the car and looked over toward the house, seeing the discarded garbage bag Eric had been using to pull weeds. He glanced in the front window before he got in the driver's side but couldn't see anything due to the piece of cardboard that Anna had put up to replace the glass Eric had broken.

He hoped the kids were doing better after the earlier incident. He felt a tug at his heart thinking of Jenny in particular and how her sudden change of mood reminded him of episodes with Mary. She was so innocent. He wondered again how the parents had died. He knew with a little investigating he could probably figure it out pretty quickly, but it was none of his business, and if the time came for them to tell him then so be it, but until then, he'd just remain what he was, the guy who lived next door.

He let go the threats he had made to Anna a few nights before about getting involved legally if he had too. He really didn't see a need for them anymore. He liked the kids, but despite what Danny thought he didn't have the patience nor the desire to deal with Anna Jordan, regardless of what she looked liked or who she was related too. He still considered that house to have some sort of Hawaiian evil spirit possessing it that also had a vengeance against him, but the kids…a smile crossed his lips as he slid behind the wheel and started the engine. Those kids were worth putting up with Anna.

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Steve rolled into his driveway a little after midnight and stopped. He turned the engine off and laid his head back against the seat enjoying the peace and quite. He let out a long slow breath and closed his eyes. "Home at last," he mumbled. "I swear on the Akua's if that phone rings in the next two days I'm going off a cliff."

He opened his eyes and looked at the front door of his house, contemplating whether he even had the energy to go inside or just sleep where he was, which he could have done easily, he thought. It had been two days since he'd been home and even then it was only for about five hours. Just enough time to catch some sleep and shower.

They had all been working like crazy the past two weeks with one case after another, sometimes two at time. But they were all put to rest now. The paperwork was done and filed and he told everyone to go home for the next two days, which happened to coincide with the weekend, so they technically had four days off.

He decided to make a go of it and opened the door of the truck and slid his tired body out, groaning under his breath. The idea of his comfortable bed gave him the burst of energy he needed to make the trip.

He came up the walkway and stopped, hearing something but not sure what. He slightly tilted his head but only heard the ocean in the background. He kept walking, silently scolding himself to get off the job mode.

He was about to put the key in the lock when he heard it again. It sounded like a wounded cat. He walked to the end of his front porch and looked around the corner that led to the beach and saw nothing. He came off the stone patio and onto the grass, pulling out his cell phone and turned the light on, flashing it in the bushes when he heard it again over his shoulder.

He turned toward Eric's house.

He came up the yard and over toward the side, still holding his cell phone for light when he heard it again, only this time it didn't sound like a wounded cat. He looked up over the fence that was only about four feet high and saw Anna sitting in the same tree that Eric had been in a couple weeks earlier.

The display was odd being so late at night, there was no doubt about that but his weariness over took his curiously. He rolled his eyes and turned away when he heard her take in a gulp of air and few quick sobs before it was quiet again. He stopped and looked over at her again, knowing that she was crying.

His head fell forward and he scolded himself once again for not just going inside his house when he first heard the sound to begin with. He quickly convinced himself that he didn't want nor need to get involved with this and went to take a step in the direction of home when he heard the crack of a branch and the sound of her falling.

She came down hard on the ground, rolling over on her back, clutching her left arm. "Damn it! Ouch!" she cried out as the tears fell even harder as she tried to get up, not so much from the pain but because it was just another slap in the face from life that she just couldn't take anymore. She felt backed up against a wall and had nowhere to go and worse yet, no one to talk too.

She went to get up, using the tree for support when suddenly there was an arm around her waist.

"Are you Ok?" Steve asked, helping her up.

She couldn't see him through her blurred vision that was a combination from the tears of self-pity and from the bottle of wine she had consumed, but knew the voice right away. "Where," she blubbered, "what are you…?"

"Did you hurt your arm?" he could see her holding it. He touched her wrist and she cried out.

"Ouch! Don't touch it!" She started crying again. "Stupid! Stupid tree!" she bawled. "I want to go home," she whined. "I want to go back to LA and have my life back," her voice barely audible through the sobs.

"Come on," he guided her toward the house. "It's ok," he said passively, not knowing what else to say, but he needed to get her inside so he could get a look at her arm.

"I've been trying," she wailed, "but I just can't do it anymore. I wasn't cut out to be a mother."

He came in through the backdoor, noticing an empty bottle of wine and half full glass sitting on the counter. He set her on the sofa and knelt down on one knee in front of her, carefully taking the damaged arm by the elbow. He could see swelling already, and the way the hand was curved he knew right away it was broken. "You broke your wrist. You need to go to the hospital."

"What?" she looked at him shocked. "No! I can't. It can't be broke!" She looked down at it but couldn't focus straight. "I'll just wrap it up really tight and it'll be ok." Fresh tears stung her eyes over this new obstacle.

Steve refused to argue with her and stood up. "Stay here." He went to the stairs.

"There's some gauze," Anna whimpered, "in the bathroom drawer up there," she affirmed, assuming he was taking her advice.

He came up to a door with a sign on it that read "Knock First" in big black letters, assuming it was Eric's room. He rapped his knuckles twice, giving him the courtesy even though he was pretty sure he was sound asleep. He opened the door and saw him occupying the top half of the bunk bed.

He gently shook him. "Eric, wake up."

He rolled over and blinked twice at him trying to get a clear picture through his haze, wondering if that was actually Steve standing there. "Huh, what?" he replied sleepily.

"Wake up. Anna fell and broke her wrist. I need to take her to the hospital and you and Jenny have to come with me."

He sat up on his elbow, "She broke her wrist?! Can you see the bone?" he asked almost giddy over being able to witness that.

Steve couldn't help but chuckle over his question, typical young boy reaction. "No, but it's broke. Can you get Jenny up for me and get her dressed and come downstairs?"

He kicked the covers off with his legs. "Yes."

"Thanks Buddy. I'll meet you down there."

"How did she break it?"

"She fell out of your tree," he announced with a sigh. He stopped at his desk and picked up the wooden ruler sitting on it and then walked out, leaving Eric with a confused expression.

Anna cuddled her arm, gritting her teeth through the pain as he came back downstairs. "Good, you found it," she said of the gauze in his hand.

He ignored her and went to the kitchen, searching through the drawers until he found some saran wrap.

She stared at him as he knelt back down in front of her and carefully set the ruler under the length of her lower arm and then began to wrap the gauze around it, tightly at the elbow and then more gently toward the wrist.

"Ouch, ouch," she trembled.

"Sorry," he said softly, feeling her pain, having broken his wrist before. "I need to stabilize it until we can get you to the ER."

She looked up at him as her bottom lip quivered. "We're still going?"

"Anna," he said firmly. "You broke your arm. We're going to the hospital."

"But, what about Eric and Jenny?" she whimpered.

"They're coming too."

No sooner did he get the words out did they both come down the stairs, Eric holding Jenny's hand as she stared sleepily at the display, not quite registering what was happening.

Eric let go of her hand once they hit the bottom and came running over to them. "Let me see."

Steve stood up and took Anna's other arm. "There's nothing to see. It's just swollen."

He led her out the door as Eric took Jenny's hand again.

"Does it hurt?" Jenny asked Anna as they walked past.

"I'm sorry," Anna replied tearfully to the both of them.

Jenny gripped her brother's hand as they followed behind them to Steve's truck.

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Steve pulled up to the ER and got a spot almost directly in front of the entrance, mainly due to the time of night. He came around to the passenger side and helped Anna get out first.

"Thank you," she said softly. The entire way there she had sat in silence, nursing her arm and trying for the life of her to figure out how he came to be where he was at the moment she fell. She had no recollection of seeing him while in the tree, she just fell out and he magically appeared. Most of it was hazy but that part was clear.

Eric came around the other side as Steve opened up the backdoor to Jenny's seat; she was slumped over, sound asleep.

A small, aggravated growl came from his gut that only he could hear and carefully undid her seat belt. He caught her as she fell forward and lifted her out holding her high so she could rest her head on his shoulder, which she did without so much as stirring.

They walked into the ER together and were met by a nurse that recognized Steve right away.

"Commander," she said surprised; not so much over seeing him in the ER but with the people attached to him, not realizing he had a family.

"She broke her arm." He motioned toward Anna.

She then saw the wrapped up arm and the saran wrap that was used as a makeshift sling to hold it in place. "Oh, you poor thing." She put an arm around Anna. "Don't you worry Mrs. McGarrett, we'll get you fixed up."

That caught Steve off guard as he quickly spoke up. "Umm, she's not my wife. They live next door to me."

Eric on the other hand burst out laughing. "She thinks you're married!"

Steve gave him not only the look, but also one of his typical gentle smacks in the back of the head.

Eric laughed it off, taking it more as a term of endearment and covered his mouth, still reeling over the nurse's assumption.

Anna turned as they led her down the hall, eyeing him with the kids; especially Jenny slumped over his shoulder, knowing what an inconvenience this was for him. "I won't be long. It doesn't look busy."

Steve said nothing, but knew it wouldn't be quick. He'd never been to the ER outside of work issues that was a quick trip, regardless of the time of night and empty lobby. She was in for at least two hours, that was a given.

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Two and half hours later Anna came down the empty waiting room seeing them in another room that was set up especially for kids entertainment, complete with a large fish tank and a TV that had a video game station connected to it, but at the moment it boasted out the Disney movie The Little Mermaid. She smiled as she came in and approached the couch across the way.

Asleep on it were all three of them. Steve sat slouched down with his head turned and resting on the back of it while Jenny was curled up next to him, securely tucked under his arm, her forehead laid against the side of his chest, while Eric was passed out on the other side, his head lying on Steve's outer bicep.

She stared at him, wondering who he was, this person who came to her aid whenever she needed it, yet seemed so callous in his liking towards her. She looked at Jenny and Eric again and felt a slight jolt of jealousy toward them; not in a bad way but because they had seemed to win him over with such ease. She knew then that he was there for them and not her. That stung a bit. She couldn't think of one person in her life back in LA, which she had been crying so adamantly for earlier in her drunken state that would have come to her rescue so openly when it came to these kids. They would have dropped her at the ER and called a nanny service. There was no doubt in her mind about that. But him, not only was he there to help the morning she was moving, he was there to find Jenny, there help get Eric out of the tree, there to catch her as she fell out.

'Maybe,' she thought, 'maybe this place was the home she'd been looking for.' She had friends in LA but none of them, not even her so called boyfriend or sister who claimed they loved her had gone out of their way to assist her, ever, in any way more than this man sitting across from her had over the past two weeks. And it was clear he didn't even like her.

She realized then it wasn't just him that was generous, it was everyone and everywhere she went on this island. The people here were genuine and caring.

For the first time since landing in Hawaii she actually felt glad she was there. She decided to embrace it rather than fight it. She looked at Steve and felt ashamed with herself once again for being so afraid of this person and judging him because he wore a badge. He was nothing like Daryl, absolutely nothing like him at all.

She saw him stir and gently touched him on the knee as he opened his eyes. He used the hand that was around Jenny to wipe away the sleep.

"Hey," he went to sit up and realized just then the two bodies nestled next to him. He looked down eyeing each of them and let out a small chuckle.

Anna smiled, "You all look so comfortable I didn't want to disturb you."

"How's the arm?" he said just above a whisper so as not to disturb them just yet.

She looked down at her hand that was incased in a pink cast and sticking out the end of a black sling. "Broke, sore." She rolled her eyes, staring at the ground not able to face him. "Embarrassed, humiliated, foolish."

"Hung over?" he teased.

She couldn't help but smile, feeling her face flush. "A little."

"Alcohol and trees don't mix."

"That should be on a poster," she declared. "Maybe I wouldn't have attempted it if I had seen that warning somewhere."

Steve smiled over her ability to poke fun at herself. He'd never seen a humorous side to her, wondering if she even had one. "Live and learn." He didn't bother to ask her why she was in the tree, he knew why. She was having a bad night. "I'm just glad I was there. If you would have let that go it could have got a lot worse."

She looked up at him with a curious expression. "Why were you there?" she asked. "I mean, I'm glad you were," she quickly added, not wanting to sound ungrateful. "But, where did you come from?"

"I got home late and I heard you crying." He let out a small laugh, "Well, I thought I heard a wounded cat, but it turned out to be you."

She felt her face flush once again. "Geez, does the humiliation have an end?"

"Like I said. I'm just glad I was there to help."

She smiled shyly at him. "Me too. Thank you."

The disheveled clothes from the fall and lying in a hospital bed from the last two hours mirrored the weary look in her eyes from the long night. They were both tired but he couldn't deny that even though she had had a rough night, that when she let her guard down she was every bit as stunning as Danny had pointed out. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time, or maybe it was just this side of her that he was seeing for the first time that caught his attention.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her.

"Please. I can feel the pain medicine kicking in and in about two seconds I might just join you on that couch for the night."

Steve laughed, looking to his left and then to his right. "We might be able to squeeze you in here somewhere."

Anna smiled over that and sat down on the edge next to Jenny. "They like you so much," she announced, running her hand gently over the little girl's hair. She made eye contact with him. "Jenny adores you, and Eric, he respects you."

Steve raised an eyebrow over that piece of information. "That's kind of funny to hear, because to tell you the truth, I'm not very good with kids. I never have been."

"I think it's because you treat them like people, and not just kids. They respond to that." She sighed heavily, rolling her eyes at her next confession. "To be quite honest myself, while I was in there getting fixed up I had decided to follow that example. I've decided to stop trying to be their best friend. They don't need that. They need someone who can show authority and at the same time spin them around by their hands and have fun." She smiled at him, recalling how he had done that with Jenny.

"I can't give advice on kids," he shrugged nonchalantly, "but it seems to work for me." He wasn't sure if it was her reaction to the pain medicine, the late night or the mortification she felt from the whole incident, but he was definitely seeing a different side of her. He decided to let her off the hook for now and meet her halfway in this new found common ground they had suddenly found between them. "I think you're doing a good job, Anna. I can't begin to think how hard this must be for you, but you should know that."

His confession caught her completely off guard, but it was what she needed to hear. She didn't even realize it until he said it just how much she did need that validation. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

"You're welcome."

He sat up, moving his arm under and around Jenny's waist, rolling her over so she rested on his body and then stood up. She never budged from her slumber and was once again resting on his shoulder. Eric, who had been leaning against his other arm, fell down into the spot he had just vacated. The movement however woke him up momentarily. He wiped his hand over his eyes and looked up at both of them and closed them again.

"Eric," Anna said, gently nudging him. "Come on, we're going home."

"No," he blinked once but didn't move.

She looked at Steve for help.

"Authority," he grinned.

"Right," she agreed wholeheartedly and bent over with her good hand and slid it under his head, lifting him up. "Yes! Now get up, we're leaving, and if you don't get up, I'm leaving you here."

He sat up looking as tired as he felt, but slid off the couch anyway, slightly staggering as he stood there.

She put an arm around his shoulders and looked over at Steve with a triumphant smile.

"Look at you, drill Sergeant," he teased, putting a hand on Eric's head as they all walked out the sliding doors together.